Veronika Dolina | Thirteen Diamonds

Description

Released in 2006 Thirteen Diamonds serves as a vital bridge between Russian cultural history and Western avant-garde archival music. The collection highlights Veronika Dolina, one of the most singular and enduring figures in the Russian bard movement, a tradition of “singing poets” that emerged during the Soviet era as a powerful form of artistic self-expression and gentle defiance. Rooted in the mid-20th-century Russian acoustic tradition, the bard movement elevated lyric poetry above complex instrumentation. Bards used simple guitar figures to carry literary verse past state censors and into intimate domestic spaces via informal home recordings (magnitizdat). Dolina stands directly in the lineage of iconic predecessors like Bulat Okudzhava, Vladimir Vysotsky, and Alexander Galich. Yet, while her predecessors often leaned toward stark political satire, tragic heroism or sweeping romanticism, Dolina forged her own path starting in the 1970s. Emerging as the premiere female voice of the movement, she brought an intensely personal, domestic and feminine perspective to singing poetry, treating the everyday, the understated and the emotional interior as deeply sacred territory. On Thirteen Diamonds, Dolina’s quiet crystalline vocal delivery and subtle folk-guitar accompaniment frame her poetic narratives with immense grace. Her songs function as literary vignettes, balancing personal vulnerability with sharp emotional clarity. Staying true to the grassroots underground heritage of the Soviet bard movement, Abaton Book Company presented this licensed edition as a painstakingly crafted, handmade physical artifact. Issued as a hand-numbered limited edition of only 250 copies, the CD-R is housed in a custom gatefold sleeve accompanied by an eight-page booklet featuring an historical text on the tradition of Russian singing poetry by Alexander Pogrebinsky. This boutique packaging honors the tactile, hand-distributed history of the music itself.

Track Listing

1. Christmas Postcard (2:54)
2. Hot Red Wine (2:15)
3. Old Party Dresses (2:51)
4. My Secret Light (2:19)
5. About Being Firm (2:16)
6. Dish Washing (1:53)
7. Heavenly Lion (3:20)
8. She Is Single (2:33)
9. Cardinal Is Still Young (2:13)
10. A Special Morning (3:25)
11. Thirteen Diamonds (2:03)
12. The Old Bench (2:50)
13. A Magic Crystal (1:58)
14. Not Young Forever (1:25)
15. To My Sister (2:11)
16. The Watchman (2:18)
17. Crimea (2:54)
18. August Dream (2:14)
19. My Scripture (2:45)
20. Farewell Song (2:04)